critical thinking developing students' critical thinking -kristina deda
TRANSCRIPT
Bramson ORT College
Developing Students’ Critical Thinking
By Kristina Deda
In-Service Training Workshop
October 2nd, 2015
Location: Room 5&6
Time: 3-5 PM
Session Objectives
Introduction: Why Considering Critical
Thinking Skills -DEDA
Challenging Participants in Articulating Their
Understanding of “Critical Thinking”-DEDA
Constructing Critical Thinking Questions-
Diffley
Exploring Teaching Strategy that Promote
Critical Thinking in Classroom-Ghimisian
Question
What is the one thing you hope to learn from
today’s workshop?
Where the “Critical” Word Comes
From?
“Critical” comes from two Greek roots…
….does anyone know?
Etymology & dictionary definition
From “kriticos” –discerning juddment and
“kriterion’ – standards
Therefore, in etymological context, critical
means discerning judgment based on
standards
What is Critical Thinking?
Is Not Critical as in judging others to find fault.
Is Critical as in careful, exact evaluation and
judgment.
“Critical Thinking” is a set of skills relating to
the recognition, analysis, evaluation, and
construction of arguments.
“Critical thinking describes the process we
use to uncover and check our assumptions. Stephen Brookfield, (2006, Developing Critical Thinkers, p. 11)
What is Critical Thinking and
What the Critical Thinker Does?
Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and
evaluating thinking with a view to improving
it. (Paul and Elder, 2006, p.4)
A critical thinker : Poses questions, gathers
and assesses relevant information, uses
abstract ideas to interpret the information
effectively, comes to well-reasoned
conclusions based on facts or relevant
criteria and standards.
What a Critical Thinker Does?
Goes “deeper” than memorizing and recalling of factual information
Reflects on the information
Shifts away from viewing learning as “fasts food”
Does not think that critical thinking means to “ Critique”
Why Considering Developing
Critical Thinking Skills
The need to go far from basics
The need to discern what is worthy
Experts of the field disagree
The need to comply with written assignments’
requirements at Bramson ORT college
Why Considering Developing
Critical Thinking Skills
Traditional Assignment
Freedom of an open-topic research paper
fuel plagiarism
- Students wander, instructor is loaded
- Does not supply guide
- Does not stimulate the complex thinking
- Does not focus on course concepts or issues
- Lacks clear specification of audience and
purpose
Critical Thinking Based Assignment
versus Traditional Assignment
Avoids plagiarism
Focus directly on course concepts
Teaches thesis-governed argumentation in
the discipline
Allows understanding of the discipline as an
arena for inquiry and argument
Allows rework and transfer of ideas
Challenge: Work in Pairs to discern the given variations in research paper
assignment design
1-What differences in thinking process are apt
to be encouraged by each option/variation?
2-What are the advantages and disadvantages
of each option/variation?
3- Which assignment or sequence of
assignments would you choose as a professor?
References
Bean, John C.(2011) Engaging Ideas: The
Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical
Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom (2nd
edition) Jossey-Bass
Pohl, M. Website re Bloom’s Taxonomy,
http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blo
oms_taxonomy.htm)
References
Brookfield, S. (2006). Developing Critical
Thinkers, from “Workshop Materials,
PowerPoints, Book Extracts,”
www.StephenBrookfield.com.
Paul, R. and Elder, L. ((2006). The Miniature
Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and
Tools, The Foundation for CriticalThinking,
www.criticalthinking.org.
Fall 2015-Workshop
Kristina Deda
Science Professor
Bramson ORT College
16
Thank you for your attention.
Kristina Deda, Science Professor, Chair of the
Academic and Curriculum Committee
Bramson ORT College
718-261-5800
http://www.bramsonort.edu
Thank you for attending.